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Porter, Evangeline, 2010 March 3

Biographical / Historical

Born in North Carolina in 1932 and raised there by her grandmother, Evangeline "Eve"
Porter came to Brooklyn in 1953. She married at that time and lived on Sterling Street.
In 1973, she moved to her own apartment on St. Charles Place. Eve Porter attended
Howard University and graduated from the College of New Rochelle's School of New Resources
in Brooklyn. She volunteered at her children's school, and later worked as a paraprofessional
at Paul Robeson High School. Porter was a toll collector and a Passenger Service Agent
at John F. Kennedy Airport; both under the aegis of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel
Authority. She also worked as a guide for builders at the construction site of the
North Tower at the World Trade Center. She has been a leader of the Crow Hill Community
Association for decades, oversaw an offshoot organization in 1999 called the Franklin
Avenue Commercial Revitalization Project, and acted as the secretary of the 77th Precinct
Community Council.

Scope and Contents

In the interview, Evangeline "Eve" Porter recalls moving to the Brooklyn neighborhood
of Crown Heights. She makes some pointed comments about the growth of the West Indian
Carnival on Labor Day weekends. Eve Porter remembers her personal challenges with
neighborhood blight in the 1970s and '80s and the stands she had to take. She speaks
generally about forming a block association and doesn't refer to the Crow Hill Community
Association by name. Porter makes a prediction about the neighborhood changes in 2020
to 2025. She laments the steep hikes in rent for business owners and shares an anecdote
about prompting Assemblyman Roger Green to raise $250,000 for the association to make
improvements in the neighborhood. She says a few final words about community involvement
in general and how activism can thrive with young people's involvement. Interview
conducted by Treverlyn Dehaarte, Floyya Richardson, Monica Parfait, and Alex Kelly.

Conditions Governing Access and Use

Access to the interview is available onsite at the Brooklyn Historical Society's Othmer
Library. Use of the oral histories other than for private study, scholarship, or research
requires the permission of BHS. For assistance, contact library@brooklynhistory.org.